EU's Google fine in "sharp contrast" with government's sweetheart tax deal

The Liberal Democrats have said that the EU's decision to fine Google £2.1bn for distorting the market stands in "sharp contrast" with the UK government's tax deal struck with the company last year. Liberal Democrat Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson Christine Jardine said: "This hefty punishment acts as a stark warning to others that search results must be fair to online retailers and ensure healthy competition. "It shows that by acting together across Europe, we can hold global giants like Google to account and protect consumer rights and smaller businesses. "This decisive action stands in sharp contrast to our own Conservative government, which has fallen over itself to offer a sweetheart tax deal to Google. "It seems doubtful that this government would ever have the courage to stand up to major international businesses in this way post-Brexit."